New Project: Paint the Office

Natural
Wall Color: Santorini Blue
Soothing Santorini Blue walls reflect this room's quality of light as it changes throughout the day. Extend the casual mood with natural materials that offer rich texture and versatility, like our Wide–Border Sisal Rug and Como Side Table & Bench. Our oversized PB Basic Grand Sofa offsets colorful Kantha and Bird Floral Pillow Covers in shades of russet and amber. Complete the organic theme with a wrought–iron Botanical Lamp.





Check out the NEW Fall 2007 Room Palettes from Pottery Barn and Benjamin Moore-


No, I have not completely finished my last project (patio table) yet. Which is so typical of me to be on another project before I finish the first one. However, I have been wanting to paint my office since we moved in April. It use to be the little girl's room and it's a combination of mauve and pepto pink. Yuck! I've finally decided on the color... Pottery Barn's Fall 2007 Santorini Blue. Russell's hoping the new color will help with my mood after staring at it all day. I think a lighter color will go better with our mahogany desk and hopefully it will coordinate with Russell's navy blue pleather recliner I've allowed him to keep. (First off, it's motion furniture. Second, he thinks it's 100% leather. I beg to differ. I'm the one that works in the furniture industry, Buddy. It's definitely a split leather/vinyl. Yuck again!) We've had several discussions about this lovely chair. The office or the bonus room upstairs are the only two places it's allowed. I've found some storage boxes that should help to coordinate the navy blue chair with the light blue, khaki, white combination. I went ahead and painted a little on the wall, as you can see in the pictures above, so we would be forced to complete this task this weekend! I hope Russell doesn't mind but I have a list of "honey do's" for him. I'll post pictures of the projects once they're done.

Where's Bailey???

I came home from buying paint earlier and I couldn't find Bailey anywhere. Can you find her?


Look a little harder...


There she is!


Now call her name and watch those ears perk up


I just had to call Russell at work and share her new game of "hide and seek." He claims she likes to dig under the rose bushes and then lay in the cold dirt. She's a mess, literally!

Engagement Announcement!

Our best friend, Stacey Anger, is engaged!!! She and Ray Carter will be getting married on May 10. We surprised her last night in Nashville with an after-party that Ray had meticulously planned out on his 28th birthday. How selfless! And her ring is absolutely beautiful by the way. More pictures (including the ring) to come once I sort through them all...

Bailey in Training

Russell is so good to spend time training Bailey as soon as he gets home from work. No matter how late or tired he is, he makes it a priority to work with her. She lives for this! She will do anything for some one-on-one time with him. It's so funny, she starts getting really hyper and frisky around 6pm everyday because she knows he'll be coming home before long. She starts fetching her dummy and/or balls wanting me to fetch with her. I tend to spoil Bailey by buying her toys, flavored bones, and a monogrammed dog bed, while Russell encourages her to exercise. He got the birds out for her to fetch the other day. She hasn't had one in her mouth since March. Supposedly some dogs don't care for the texture of the feathers in their mouths but Bailey takes to it just fine. It seems to come pretty natural to her, just like her swimming!

Patio Project Update

So I've completed Step 1 of the patio project and I'm feeling pretty good about it. It only took three trips to Lowes in Southaven for them to cut the plexiglass correctly! Boy, that was frustrating. I've found Russell's "shoppe" to come in handy this weekend. I really didn't understand why he was so excited about a third car garage that also served as storage and a workshop when we first bought the house. I can't wait to use it for more projects like this! Now all I have to do is grout the tiles. Has anyone ever done this? I'm a little nervous about this step. I'll show you the final product once I'm done...

Lifeblood

I donated blood on Saturday in Southaven for Russell's Aunt Kathy. She will need it for her surgery later this month and we were a match, A-positive. I was really excited to be able to do it for her. I've never given blood before so I was a nervous wreck. The anticipation was the worse part! I felt a little tired for the rest of the evening at the baby shower but other than that I was great.


The Memphis community is currently experiencing an extreme shortage in the supply of two important blood types, O-negative and B-positive. These supply issues are affecting elective surgeries and treatment of chronic diseases.

Lifeblood compensates for local blood shortages by importing blood from other community blood centers throughout the country that have excess supply. A nationwide blood shortage however, is limiting availability of imports and exacerbating the local blood shortage challenge.

O-negative is the universal blood type that can be transfused to people of all blood types. About 14% of the people living in the United Stated have O-negative blood. Fewer than 8% of Lifeblood donors have type O-negative blood.

The U.S. Department of Human Services recommends a community maintain a seven day supply of blood to be able to respond to a disaster or major trauma in their area. Our area strives to keep a three day supply. 36-40% of an optimum 3 day supply is considered a pre-critical shortage; 31-35% is a critical shortage; at or below 30% is designated as an extremely critical shortage. We are fluctuating between a critical shortage and an extremely critical shortage.

Red blood cells have a shelf life of 42 days, so the need for blood donors is constant. Lifeblood is asking all eligible O-positive, O-negative, B-positive and B-negative donors to go to one of Lifeblood’s donor centers and donate today.

Individuals age 17 or older who weigh at least 110 lbs. and are in good health are eligible to donate.

Donating blood was simple, only took me about an hour and my one blood donation can save up to four lives. Only you can help our community. Donate today!

For more information about blood donation, local blood needs and other relevant information call 901-529-6300.

Shrimp & Grits

Me & Mari Lampton


DeFord, Amy, & Mari Lampton Walker

We went over to the Walker's for shrimp & grits on Friday night. Dinner was great, thanks Amy! Mari Lampton especially loved feeding herself the cheese grits. We thought we could just wash her hands and mouth off at the sink but it turned out that she needed a full body bath instead!

Rain, Rain Go Away- Can't You See It's My Wedding Day?

You have been planning this day since you were a teenager. Everything has been confirmed, reconfirmed and paid for. You have done everything you can to ensure that your destination beach wedding is going to be just perfect, but the moment you start to walk down the aisle of sand the floodgates open. Surely this is the end of the world?

Not for Mrs. Claire Long Giachelli... that girl is tough as nails! As many of you have probably already heard, it rained during their beach ceremony that we attended this past weekend. Poor Tony was devastated for Claire. All he wanted was the day to be perfect for her. Regardless of the weather, the wedding was beautiful and Claire was the epitome of a classy bride. I just loved how she wore her hair, a side twist with flowers (orchids, I think). It was unfortunate that it rained during their beach ceremony but that was just one minor detail compared to the rest of the wonderful weekend. Tony and his family hosted the rehearsal dinner at the 331 and the seafood was awesome. That place has such great atmosphere. We love to go there on the girls' trip! All in all, we had a great long weekend hanging out with many of our friends while catching some rays.

Fry Fest's Fattening Foods

Yes, this too happened a while ago. It was actually the week I started with my personal trainer, Brooke. She thought it was hilarious that I was asking permission to attend a "fry fest" after only a week of working out. I promised to be on my best behavior. The Fry Fest is actually an annual event at our friend, DeFord Walker's, parents' home. We hated that we missed this last year so we made a valiant effort to attend this time. Little did we know just how much we were missing out! The Fry Fest is a pool party where you're supposed to bring anything you want to try fried. Apparently, foods such as Twinkies, oreos, portobello mushrooms, chicken and vegetables have all been tried before and are proven to be winners. We carried Mac and Cheese and miniature Monte Cristos. Both were a success! Another highlight was a whole chocolate cake for DeFord's father, Harold's, birthday. I wasn't crazy about it but everyone else loved it, especially Russell. All in all, we had a great time with our friends and look forward to next year.

Our friends, the Mims

As I mentioned earlier, the week of the fourth was super busy for us. We had a lot of fun with all of our friends. On Friday night, we had dinner with the Mims. Since they have two little ones, Brittany & Gates, we decided to have them over to cook out. Brittany is such the entertainer and really wore Bailey out. They played so well together all night. Bailey was even nice enough to share her toys with Brittany. As you can see in the pictures, we caught Brittany playing in Bailey's toy box. We definitely had to scrub those little hands before dinner!

Patio Project

So I've started a new project... my one-of-a-kind patio set! If you know me, you know I seem to make the easiest of decisions and/or purchases difficult by feeling the need to personalize them. I've always been this way. I really don't like the thought of someone having the exact same thing as me. So, hence the reason for my patio project. I found this patio set at Lowes where you can customize the tiles inlaid in the table. I obviously didn't buy the whole patio set like they wanted me to. Nor did I buy the $0.97 floor tiles they suggested (which would have been a heck of a lot easier and cheaper). Oh no, instead I only got the table and purchased wrought iron chairs from another location. I am still looking for the perfect umbrella but have seemed to wait too late in the season. Everyone is sold out everywhere! I've probably already looked there but any suggestions? Anywho, back to the table which is the project part. I decided I liked the idea of blue ceramic tiles for my table. Very Italian looking, reminded me of the feel of Positano on our honeymoon. However, the ceramic tiles require some caulking and a supportive backing. In the meantime, I've bought all of the materials and will keep you posted on how it turns out after the weekend...

Inspiration from our honeymoon - Positano, Italy 2007

I'm baaack!

I know, I know, you've all been anxiously awaiting my return. As promised, I'm posting 4th of July pictures that are only over two weeks old! We had a great time with our friends, DeFord & Amy Walker, and their little one, Mari Lampton. The pictures tell it all... she just loved the glowsticks and fireworks.

Headed to the beach...

I know, I know, it's been a week since my last post and I'm still not sharing anything new. Please bare with me. I actually have a lot to post... 4th of July, new patio set project, dinner with the Mims, the Walker's Fry Fest, and the Price is Right LIVE in Tunica. These past few days have been the busiest but most fun for us. I'm off to work in Tupelo for two days and then heading to Destin on Wednesday with my family. Russell's coming to join us at the beach on Thursday after his trial. We'll be in Destin for a couple of days and then we're heading to Tony Giachelli's & Claire Long's beach wedding at the WaterColor Resort. Check back next week to see pictures of what we've been up to!

Fireworks!

We have plans to go over to some friends' pool tomorrow so I've made the kids some strawberry cupcakes and vanilla cookies in the shape of stars. I felt like getting all festive for some reason. Tomorrow night we're going to go to Olive Branch to watch the big fireworks show. Rumor has it that they normally spend $10k on them but they're doubling it this year to be the "largest fireworks show in the Mid-South." I'll let you know if this proves to be true. In the meantime, we're off to eat some ribs at a cookout at Joey and Leah's. Have a safe and happy 3rd & 4th of July!

Pampered Pooch

Sorry it's been long time, no post. I know you're sick and tired of seeing Brit's face as the first thing on my blog!

Bailey and I went home to Corinth this weekend to spend time with my family. Russell had another guys' weekend on the Coast for Tony Giachelli's bachelor party. Bailey got to play with our family lab, Belle. They had a big time together. I had a motherly moment when I saw Bailey "kennel-up" to take a nap on her own. I just had to take a picture. She goes there to feel safe. She has not done this since we moved from our old house in Tupelo. She's so good to kennel-up at night as long as one of us walks her into her room and commands it. I was so proud. Bailey is a huge fans of her toys, all toys for that matter. Belle, our family lab, doesn't pay much attention to the toys my momma buys her so Bailey decided to claim them as her own. My mother thought it was so cute, so she sent all of them back with her on Sunday. I swear, she came back with more loot than I did! Usually when I go home, I always return with some goodies from a shopping trip, some leftovers, money or something. Don't get me wrong, I didn't come home empty handed but Bailey came home with a new dog bowl, a frisbee, a fish, a monkey, and a gingerbread man! Boy was she happy! Upon returning home, she had to show off her new fish to Russell.





Notice anything new in the living room? No, it's not the new coffee table we're needing.

Instead, it's Bailey's new dog bed from LL Bean!!! It came in over the weekend and has her name monogrammed on it. I know it looks a little big for her now, since it's the X-Large, but I figure she'll grow into it. I was so nervous about her liking it. Russell and I have been talking about getting her one to try and limit the amount of time she spends on our sofa. She likes Sophie's bed (the Jordans' dog) so we thought it might do the trick. Well, it worked! Bailey just loves it. All it took was for me to show her one time and now she does it on her own all of the time. I've taken a few pics to show ya. It also works as a catch-all for her toys. She likes to have easy access to them and now they're not all over the living room floor. Well, they're still there too since she now has so many!